Month: August 2010

Do you read book reviews in mainstream media – newspapers and magazines, and/or their websites – any more? There actually are some of them still around, despite the rapid disappearance of dedicated book-review sections in newspapers during the last few years. And while many of us seem to be getting book information and recommendations from book blogs and other new sources, traditional review outlets like The New York Times still carry influence and weight – like it or not, they still matter. To some people, including best-selling authors like Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult, they matter a lot.

Weiner has been vocal for years about the fact that the Times does not review her books, even though she’s placed several of them on their bestseller lists – and she became even more vocal a couple of weeks ago, when the Times published two pieces, a review and a feature, about Jonathan Franzen’s upcoming novel Freedom within just a few days. Weiner was following up on Picoult’s Twitter comments about the review – and the Times‘ attention to, and seeming bias in favor of, “white male literary darlings” over women fiction writers – with her own “#Franzenfreude” tweets.

Picoult and Weiner discussed their viewpoints with the Huffington Post last week. What’s been described as the “Franzen Feud” isn’t really that personal; it’s more an issue of the attention given to certain types of fiction over others, particularly when produced by certain types of authors. Weiner acknowledges that she doesn’t write “literary fiction,” but notes that some of the elements she incorporates into her novels seem to be taken more seriously in fiction written by men:

“I write books that are entertaining, but are also, I hope, well-constructed and thoughtful and funny and have things to say about men and women and families and children and life in America today…I think it’s a very old and deep-seated double standard that holds that when a man writes about family and feelings, it’s literature with a capital L, but when a woman considers the same topics, it’s romance, or a beach book.”

Picoult – who has been reviewed by the Times occasionally (and not necessarily positively) – believes that the paper’s reviewers overlook general-market commercial fiction (while giving attention to genre writers of both genders in addition to the aforementioned “literary darlings”), and that this is ultimately short-sighted on their part:

“(H)istorically the books that have persevered in our culture and in our memories and our hearts were not the literary fiction of the day, but the popular fiction of the day. Think about Jane Austen. Think about Charles Dickens. Think about Shakespeare. They were popular authors. They were writing for the masses.”

Weiner mentioned some male authors who cover territory similar to that in her novels – Jonathan Tropper and Nick Hornby were two examples – noting that they don’t seem expected to choose between commercial and critical success the way female authors are. Commercially, though, “domestic” or “relationship” fiction does seem to be more often produced by women writers, and to appeal more strongly to women readers…and as it so often does, that brings the discussion back to “chick lit.” Linda Holmes of NPR’s pop-culture Monkey See blog considers that a term that’s long since outlived any usefulness:

“(A)t this point, I think the only solution is to stay away from the term ‘chick lit’ as much as humanly possible, because it’s become a term that means ‘by and about women, and not something you need to take seriously, although we’re not necessarily saying those things are connected, so it might be a giant coincidence’…I don’t know what ‘chick lit’ is anymore, except books that are understood to be aimed at women, written by women, and not important. And I can’t get behind that.”

Since I discovered book blogs, I’ve drifted away from mainstream-media book reviews. However, even before that, I noticed I was finding fewer and fewer of the books I actually wanted to read via those reviews.

I’m not much of a genre reader, although I don’t make a point of avoiding genre elements in general fiction. Having said that, the fiction I prefer to read isn’t necessarily “literary” per se, either. I’ve found some modern literary fiction a bit too self-referential and self-aware for my taste, with writing – well-crafted though it may be – that can become gimmicky and get in the way of the storytelling. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate literary merit and technique, however, and I absolutely seek out good, engaging writing. I prefer fiction that’s drawn from the real world, and that contains characters and conflicts that I can understand, even if I don’t fully relate to them. I prefer fiction that’s centered around people’s relationships and how they’re affected by situations. I look for meaningful themes and relevant observations about life. And as it happens, I tend to find that kind of fiction is more often written by women.

My LibraryThing catalog is close to a 70/30 split between female and male authors, and my list of “favorite authors” is not single-gender. However, some of my favorite male writers are less likely to write the type of fiction I generally favor; I usually turn to them for my forays into genre (or, more accurately, genre-mixing). When it comes to “domestic” fiction, “relationship” fiction, “realistic” fiction, or whatever label you use to describe it, I admit that my own bias is heavily in favor of women authors. While they may write with humor, I look for authors who take their themes, characters and stories seriously – and I take them seriously.

One of the beauties of the book-blog world – which, like my LibraryThing catalog, is quite dominated by women – is that across nearly all genres and niches, we do take authors and books seriously. Sometimes we talk about the same books that traditional book reviewers do, but we’ve made space for so many others that they don’t. We’re filling a void that established book-criticism outlets don’t seem to care so much about – and quite frankly, that’s their loss. And if those outlets – and the authors they’re bypassing – aren’t taking us seriously, that’s their loss too.

Children of God Mary Doria Russell Ballantine Books (1999), Paperback (ISBN 044900483X / 9780449004838) Fiction (speculative/SF), 464 pages Source: personal copy Reason for Reading: Re-read as co-host of a Read-Along with Heather J., following the March 2010 Read-Along of The Sparrow Opening Lines: “Sweating and nauseated, Emilio Sandoz sat on the edge of his bed with his head in what was left of his hands. “Many things had turned out to be more difficult than […]

It’s been many weeks since I’ve been a Weekly Geek, but this week’s theme from Wendy appealed to me: (This week’s) Weekly Geeks is about examining a book (or books) which were published in your birth decade. Tell us about a book that came out in the decade you were born which you either loved or hated. Is is relevant to today? Is it a classic, or could it be? Give us a mini-review, or […]

A Fierce Radiance: A Novel Lauren Belfer Harper (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 0061252514 / 9780061252518) Fiction, 544 pages Source: ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) received from publicist Jocelyn Kelley of Kelley & Hall Book Publicity and Promotion. The novel was published in June 2010 and is now available in stores. Opening Lines: “Claire Shipley was no doctor, but even she could see that the man on the stretcher was dying. His lips were blue from lack of […]

It’s about that time of year, y’all: Weekend Assignment #332: Back To School In just a couple weeks, students will be heading back to school. Share with us what that means in your life. Are you currently shopping for school supplies for the students in your life? Are you planning on going back to school? Maybe everyone around you is rushing to get ready for the new school year, but you can sit back and […]

Days that don’t follow the normal routine – get up, go to work, come home – seem to exist in a different time stream, pulled out of the calendar and somehow blown away somewhere. The “normal” days can become compressed together, and suddenly it’s later than I thought – time has certainly flown, but there seem to be holes in it. The last few months have had more than their share of out-of-the-norm days, and […]

…the long wait is about to end! As part of my attempt not to “backslide” into reading young-adult fiction at my advanced age, I resisted Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series for the longest time. Well, I resisted The Hunger Games (the first book) for a while – till Catching Fire came out last summer, anyway. Then I bought both books, but held off on reading them until the Fall 2009 24-Hour Readathon; they were an […]

Congratulations to Lynne of Lynne’s Book Reviews, who won the signed copy of Jennifer Weiner’s latest, Fly Away Home! I’ll get it in the mail to you as soon as possible. You’ll have to provide your own cupcakes, though! I knew it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t last. Life and its schedules would settle back into something resembling normal, and an unusually productive season of reading would limp to the finish line. Now I’m trying to […]

…may be at least mildly exaggerated. I hope they are, anyway, and I’m looking for others who feel the same way. (8/19/10, 6:00 PM – EDITED TO UPDATE): I’ve decided to keep this post on top for an extra day or two. It’s generating some great conversation, and I’d like to keep it front and center! In addition to being one of my favorite authors, Beth Kephart is one of my favorite bloggers, and I […]

Disclosure: I purchased this as an e-book to read on my Amazon Kindle. *I am an Amazon Associate and an IndieBound Affiliate. Purchasing links are provided by Amazon.com and IndieBound.org, and will generate a small referral fee for me.* The Day the Falls Stood Still Cathy Marie Buchanan Voice (2009), Hardcover (ISBN 1401340970 / 9781401340971) (E-book 9781401394752) Fiction (historical), 320 pages Opening Lines: “The stone walls of Loretto Academy are so thick I can sit […]

Just a few weeks ago – while we were at Comic-Con, actually, two weekends before BlogHer’10 – I told Tall Paul that after attending for two years running, I wasn’t sure about going to BlogHer next year. We had already decided we wanted to go to Comic-Con again (we’re anxiously waiting for online registration to open, and we really want the four-day passes this time!). Sure, the event is crazy and crowded, but it’s just […]

The current Weekend Assignment topic revisits one originally assigned by the WA’s founder, John Scalzi, in August 2005 – but since that was a year and a half before I started blogging, it’s a new one for me! Weekend Assignment #331: Cake v. Pie Which is better — cake or pie? Explain your reasoning. Will you choose the moist sponginess and frosting-topped goodness of cake? Or will you side with those flaky crust-adoring, fruit-filling fanatics […]

I’ve been to New York City twice this summer, and I’ve yet to get to the Strand Bookstore! It was actually on the list of things Melissa and I wanted to do when we were in the City for BlogHer’10 last weekend, but between a pretty full conference agenda and my inability to follow the walking directions I got from Google Maps, it didn’t happen. But don’t feel too sorry for me – I came […]

I’ll warn you again, in case you’ve forgotten – my BlogHer’10 experiences will, once again, be the subject of several posts. I’ve already talked about a couple of sessions in detail. This time, I’m sharing some of my more general impressions in the ever-popular “bullet points” format. But sadly, I don’t have pictures this year, because I couldn’t bring my “good” camera with me – it’s not so good right now, and I just sent […]

Disclosure: I received a copy of the new paperback edition of this novel from the publisher, via Trish at TLC Book Tours. *I am an Amazon Associate and an IndieBound Affiliate. Purchasing links are provided by Amazon.com and IndieBound.org and will generate a small referral fee for me.* Labor Day: A Novel Joyce Maynard (Facebook page) Harper Perennial (2010), Paperback (ISBN 0061843415 / 9780061843419) Fiction, 272 pages Opening Lines: “It was just the two of […]